SPEAK's campaigns come from you, the Network, and depend on you to make them grow and make a real difference to injustice! And that means we need to understand them inside out so we can spread the word and get others involved - what they're about, what we're for and against, what we're asking to who, and what we've done so far and what's next!
Campaign no 3: For the love of...
Background - What it is:
Climate change has the potential to undo decades’ worth of work pushing for social justice around the world. It’s is going to be high up on our campaign agenda over the next couple of years, as big decisions about how to tackle it are being taken in the UK, EU and internationally. Most people in the UK think climate change is important and that action needs to happen. It’s important that our politicians hear that it’s important to all of us and all aspects of life, and isn’t just a minor, niche interest of a few ‘greeny polar bear lovers’. So we’ve joined with the Climate Coalition in a creative photo petition to tell them why climate change matters to us personally!
What we're against:
Continuing greenhouse gas emissions, politicians not thinking in a joined-up way about the issue.
What we're for:
Public engagement (sorry – horrible phrase!!), specific and strong manifesto commitments by election candidates, strong and binding global deal in 2015 to curb emissions.
What the current main campaign is asking:
We’re asking *as many different people as possible* ‘What do you love that might be threatened by climate change?’. We want to get as many of the public’s voices heard as possible, speaking out about as many things they’re worried will be threatened by climate change as possible – preferably getting outside the ‘nature/trees/polar bears’ box! Politicians already know that activists are worried about polar bears. They need to hear how the average person is worried about their football pitch being flooded more often, or that their Bangladeshi relatives are losing their land, or that they might not be able to eat pizzas if wheat or tomato crops fail!
What we’ve done so far:
Our recent Pray & Post card was formatted so you could use it as a photo frame to add your ‘loves’ via our photo petition – however we’ve not had many pictures coming in!! SPEAK members also took part in the People’s Climate March in London on 21st Sept 2014 and a vigil outside Downing Street the following day.
So what’s next?
We want you to send in your pictures from yourself and your group if you have one – but that’s just the start! To get as many people’s voices added to the campaign we’ll need to take this way beyond our own activist bubbles, doing street stalls in town or at your uni to get more people involved! Here’s a great how-to guide. You could either use the SPEAK ‘For the love of...’ photo frame and gather more pictures for the photo petition, or if not, perhaps think of other ways you could get passers-by to share their ‘loves’ and get added to the petition.
Into the new year we’ll be pushing for election commitments on climate change from our candidates.
And prayer! Because the only way we’ll be motivated to act on an issue this big, and stay with it for the long haul, is by allowing God to break our hearts with the things that break God’s heart. So be praying to know God’s heart better.
Your challenge?
To get to know this campaign so well you can explain it to others; to practise explaining it both in full and in a short ask to grab the attention of passers-by as if you were on a street stall; to send in your own ‘love’ to the petition – either via the Pray & Post or directly on the ‘For the love of...’ site; to get your group/church/fellow activists to do it too; and then to take it to the streets and make this thing BIG!